Steam-superheater.



l. G. ROBINSON.

STEAM SUPERHEATER.

APPLICATION HLEDYAUGA, |915.

l. G. ROBINSON.

STEAM SUPERHEATER.

APPLICATION FILED AuG.9. 1915.

Patented Mar'. 4,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 J. G. ROBNSON.

STEAM SUPERHEATER.

APPLICATION rlLED Aus.9.1915.

Patented Mar. 4,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Ff [L 5 [Mika cipal Erica.

JOHN GEORGE ROBINSON, OE MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.Y

STEAM-SUPERHEATER.

To all whom z'may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN GEORGE ROBIN- soN, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, England, (whose postolfice address is Mere Bank, Faireld, Manchester, in the-county of Lancaster, England,) have invented certain new and -useful Improvements `in Steam-Superheaters for Marine and other Fire-Tube Boilers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such' as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and u-se the same. n

This invention consists in improvements in steam superheaters for marine and other fire tube boilers. The invention relates more especially to that type lof superheater for marine boilers in which the main header or headers is or are arranged vertically inthe smokeboX, preferably opposite and adjacent to that part of the smokeboX tube-plate between the usual groups of smoke or lire tubes, which tubes are preferably arranged in both horizontal and vertical rows.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide in connection with the main steam receiving and distributing chambers or headers supplementary steam passages or headers which are arranged horizontally and suit-- ably secured to the main header or headers, the arrangement of these supplementary headers being such as to divide the smoke or fire-tubes into upper and lower groups each group containing a set'of superheater elements or pipes each of which elements eX- tends into a plurality of smoke tubes in a vertical row, the elements having flange plates on their ends for attachment to the supplementary headers.

The present `nvention has for its prinobject to provide an improved construction of superheater of the kind above indicated and which shall be simpler and more eiicient than those heretofore proposed. Further, the construction according to this invention is such that theA steam 1nlet and outlet'ends of the superheater elements orl pipes are secured directly in an integral Wall of the above-mentioned supplementaryA headers by being expanded in holes in the said wall, removable plugs or covers being provided in holes in the opposite wall of the header for the insertion of vthe eX- panding tool as well as for the insertion of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

Application filed August 9, 1915. Serial No. 44,589.

a suitable tool for driving out and thus disconnecting the ends of the superheater elements from the supplementary headers whenever it may be necessary to remove an element or elements. Further, the construction is such that no complicated formations or bends are required in the steam inlet and outlet end portions of the superheater elements which extend from the fire-tubes to the said supplementary headers. Further, all or almost all of the superheater pipes or elements are duplicates one of another, so that a high degree of interchangeability of elements is obtained.

Further features of the invention will appear from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a frontV elevation of a portion of a marine boiler fitted with a superheater according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a portiony of the A-B Fig. 1 of the main header hereinafter described.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line C-l) Fig. 1, of the said main header.

YF 1g. 5 Yis a front view of a portion of the superheater.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section, 4taken on the line E-F in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a cross-section through the auX- iliary headers 11 and the main header, taken on the line G-H in Fig. 6.

Like reference symbols indicate corresponding parts in the various figures of the drawings.

In the construction of superheater according to this invention the main header 1 (there may be more than one of such headers according to the size of the boiler), which is preferably a casting, has two longitudinal steam chambers 2, 3 situated in the rear portion of the header casting adjacent to the smokeboX'tube-plate 4, and separated by a vertical partition 1a, and a number of offset or forwardly projecting steam pockets 5, 6, 7 and 8 are formed at suitable intervals on the front of the header casting, alternate steam pockets communicating respectively, by means of suitable openings or ports, such as 9, Fig. 4, formed in the header 1, with the longitudinal superheated and saturated steam passages 3, 2 in the main header 1.

Openings 10 are provided in opposite sides of the above-mentioned projecting steam pockets (it will be understood that these steam pockets form branches respectively of the longitudinal superheated and saturated steam chambers 3, 2 in the header) to which are connected the required number of liorizontally arranged steam passages or supplementary headers 11, 12,V 13, 14 and 15. Where two main headers 1 are employed supplementary headers may be arranged on those sides of each main header facing away from the center of the boiler, other supplementary headers being located between the main headers and each connected to both main headers. Each of these supplenientary headers preferably consists of a steel tube of vrectangular form and of suitable length open at one or both ends according as to whether the header is connected to one or to two of the main headers, and is secured to its respective steam pocket or pockets 5, 6, 7, 8, on the main header or headers 1, for instance, 'by means of a suitable flange 16 provide-d on the end of the supplementary header and secured to the side of the steam pocket by means of studs and nuts. It will be seen that a horizontally arranged supplementary header is connected to each side of each of the a'bovementioned forwardly projecting steam pockets 5 and 6.

The above-mentioned projecting steam pockets are preferably only about half the width of the main header casting so that the above-mentioned flanges 16 onthe supplementary headers do not project beyond the sides of the main header casting 1 and consequently do not form an obstruction to the ends of the smoke or lire tubes 17 lying in a vertical plane adjacent to the sides ofV the main header casting.

Assuming four of the above-mentioned steam pockets on the main header, as shown, the uppermost steam pocket 5 is of considerably greater length, relative to the total length of the header 1, than the remaining steam pockets 6, 7 and 8, and this uppermost steam pocket 5 isI divided by a horizontalV i munication with the superheated steam compartment 19, which compartment 19 is in communication by means of a port 9a with the superheated steamvchannel or chamber 3 in the main header 1, and the two lower 'supplementary headers 12, 12 in communication with the saturated steam compartment 2O in the said pocket 5, which com-V partment iii communication by means of a port 9 with. the saturated steam channel or chamber 2 in the main header 1. Below this .saturated steam compartment-20, at a' suitable distance therefrom, the next projecting steam pocket 6 is in communication with the longitudinal superheated steam chamber 3 in the main header l, and below this again at a suitable distance the next pocket 7 is in communication with the longitudinal saturated steam chamber 2 in the header 1, so thaty from top to bottom of the main header 1 the projecting steam pocketsV mentary headers do not obstruct the adjacent ends of the smoke or fire-tubes 17.

-The upper end of the above-mentioned l pocket 5 is, as shown, open and has suitably secured to it thev steam pipe 21 for conveying superheated steam to the engine valve chest. Similarly the upper end of the longitudinal saturated ,steam chamber 2 in the main header 1 is open and has secured to it the pipe 22 vthrough which saturated steam is conveyed from-the boiler to the header 1. ln the case of the outsidegroups of 4smoke tubes the left hand group as shown) adja-V cent tokopposite sides of the boiler the top and bottom supplementary headers 11, 13

may be slightly shorter than the intervening supplementary header 12.

The supplementary headers' 11, 12 and 13 relating to the side or wing portions of the boilers ,are suitably supported at their outer ends, for-instance by brackets secured to the tube plate t.

Inasmuch as all the Vsuperheater pipes or elements in groups of smoke or fire tubes on either side'of the main header 1 are or may be identical in form a description of a single element ofV a group on one side of the main` There may, however,H be a slight difference in the form of the elements appertaining to the outermost vertical header .will suffice'.

row of fire tubes adjacent to each side of the boiler, and there may also lbe a difference in llt the form of the elements in the lowermost y group in the center of the boiler, which diff ferences will be referred to hereinafter.

Referring, by way of example, to the ele-f tions 23 one of which extends into each of four fire tubes 17 in a vertical row of such tubes, the longitudinal pipes of any one of these U-shaped portions 23 of the elements lying in the same horizontal plane within the tire tube and being connected at their ends remote from the smokebox by a U-bend as usual, one of the said longitudinal pipes in one of the ire tubes being connected with one of the longitudinal pipes in the next fire tube below by means of a. suit-able bend 24:, for instance of U-shape as shown, which lies in a vertical plane to one side of the axes ofthe fire tubes, and so on from one lire tube to the other, so that the steam liows in series through the several U-shaped portions 23 of the elements. The above-mentioned U- shaped bends 24 connecting the longitudinal pipe in one smoke tube with the longitudinal pipe in the other smoke tube below are, as shown, arranged so as to alternately lie on opposite sides of the axes of the lire-tubes 17. The saturated steam inlet end 25 of the element, .which is connected to the supplementary saturated steam header 12 by being expanded into the rear wall of the header adjacent to the smoke box tube plate t, is, as shown, bent or sprung slightly in a lateral and downward direction as it leaves the smoke-tube, and may be further slightly bent so that its extreme end 25a (Fig. 2) which is connected to the header 12 lies at right angles to the wall of the header. The superheated steam outlet end 26 of the element is slightly bent or sprung upwardly and may be further slightly bent s0v that its extreme end 26a, which is connected to the rear .wall of the supplementary header 11 for superheated steam, liesat right angles to the wall of the header. The extreme end portions 25a, 26a of the elements connected to the headers are preferably swelled, or increased in diameter, as shown.

Each element appertaining to the next, lower, groups of fire tubes is identically the same as described above except that the saturated steam inlet end portion 27 of the element is bent or sprungv upwardly to connect to the supplementary saturated steam header 12, and the superheated steam outlet end 28 of the said element is bent or sprung downwardly to connect to the .wall of the supplementary superheated steam header 13.

The steam pockets 5, 6, 7, 8, are spaced widely apart on the main header, and the horizontal auxiliary headers 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, are in this way separated so that the superheater elements extending between them in vertical planes can each be provided with a series of bends which project into a series of fire-tubes. In Fig. 1 the horizontal headers 11 and 12, for instance, are spaced so that the superheater elements extending between them can each co-act .with four firetubes. The U-shapedparts of each superheater element can be inserted and with'A drawn from these four fire-tubes by springing their inclined end portions 26 25 toward each other, so that they and the U-shaped parts can be slid horizontally. between the headers 11 and 12. In this way the construction is simplified, and repairs are greatly facilitated.

As the pockets project from the front side of the main header 1, the auxiliary headers are at a relatively considerable distance from the tube plate and the front ends of the firetubes 17. The resilient inclined and projecting end portions 25, 26 of the superheater elements are relatively long and can be sprung sufficiently to be engaged with or disengaged from the steam openings in the rear sides of the auxiliary headers. Vhen disengaged, each superheater element can be slid bodily forward through the space between the two auxiliary headers to which it pertains, without detaching them from the main header, or interfering with the attachments of any other superheater element.

The superheated steam outlet end portion 26 of ,each of the elements in the top horizontal row of fire tubes of the uppermost groups may form part of or be a continuation of the left-fhand longitudinal pipe of the U-shaped portion 23 of the element, and similarly the saturated steam inlet end portion 25 of each of these elements may form part of the left-hand longitudinal pipe of the U-shaped portion in each fire tube in the bottom horizontal row in the same group, while in the next, lower, groups of fire tubes the arrangement of the inlet and outlet end portions of the elements may be reversed, z'. e. they may spring from or form part of the right hand longitudinal pipes in the top and bottom horizontal rows of fire tubes in these groups, andv so on with alternate groups as shown. Y

1t will be seen that the superheated steam outlet end 26h01? the outermost elements in the top group adjacent to the sides of the smoke-box forms part of the right hand longitudinal pipe of that U-shaped portion 23 of the element which lies in the smoke tube in the second horizontal row, the element in this case extending, as shown in Fig. 1, into only three fire tubes.

It will also be seen, on reference to Figs. 1 and 2, that the elements, marked 29, in the lowermost group of smoke tubes in center of the boiler each extend into only three smoketubes, but it will be understood that each of these elements may if desired take into Jfour smoke tubes in vertical alinement.

All of the supplementary headers situated between the uppermost and lowermost of such headers have twice as many superheated element ends connected to them as the uppermost and lowermost headers, 11 and 13, or 11 and 15.

Holes are provided in the front wall of each of the supplementary headers for the insertion of the tools for respectively expanding` the ends of the superheater elements into the wall of the header and for driving out these ends of the elements, and these holes may be closed by means of hollow screw plugs 30, Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5, each provided with a flange 30a adapted to bear against the front wall of theheader and with a rectangular or other suitably shaped head adapted to be engaged by a spanner, the hole in the front wall of the header being suitably threaded in order to receive the said plug.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. rI he combination, with a boiler tube plate, and lire-tubes; of a main superheater header arranged in front of the tube plate, horizontal auxiliary headers for saturated and superheated steam respectively connected to the said main header and having openings for steam in their rear sides, and superheater elements each :having a series of U-shaped bends arranged one above anotherin the fire-tubes and having relatively long and inclined resilient end portions which project from the fire-tubes and are suitably connected to the steam openings of the auxiliary headers, each superheater element being separately detachable from its auxiliary headers without detaching them from the main header, and being adapted to be slid forwardly through the space between its said auxiliary headers when detached from them.

2. The combination, with a boiler tube plate, and nre-tubes; of a main superheater header arranged in front ofthe tube plate and having forwardly projecting pockets for saturated and superheated steam at its front side and vertical passages for said pockets at its rear part, horizontal auxiliary headers connected to the ysaid pockets and having openings for steam in their rear sides, and superheater elements each :having erheater element being separately detach-` able from its auxiliary headers without detaching them from the main header, and being adapted to be slid forwardly through the space between its said auxiliary headers when detached from them.

3. A steam superheater, comprising a verticall -main header provided with vertical passages for saturated and superheated steam, said header having steam pockets which project from its front side and'which are spaced apart from each other, the upper-v most pocket being of greater length vertically than those below it and being provided with a horizontal partition which divides it into an upper compartment for superheated steam and a lower compartment4 for saturated steam, said compartments communicating with the corresponding vertical passages of the header', horizontal auxiliary headers, the upper two of which are con-- nec'ted to the said compartments and the others of which are connected to the lower pockets which communicate alternately with the said vertical passages of the main header, and superheater elements arranged in vertical planes and operativelyconnected.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. Y

project into ysa 

